this is post is based on a conversation i had with someone about whether we positively connect our anarchism to democracy or not, because on one hand the democratic ideal, of everyone being in power and making decisions together is pretty neat and anarchist, and that’s also what many people think of when they hear democracy, but then democracies (as in democratic organisations and states) since the greek inception of the word also have almost exclusively been the ruling of a privileged few over the rest, with just enought power (or illusion of power) handed back to us that we wouldnt rebel. as one argument goes: if “democracy” literally means “rulership of the people” then who are the people?
sadly we did not kiss after the conversation :<
but i think we agreed that honestly either is fine ฅ>⩊<ฅ
and now: me rambling about anarchy :3
if you are wondering now “anarchy? isnt that when everyone just does whatever they want and fucks everyone else over?? isnt that just destructive chaos?”
then well, that is one definition of anarchy but it is not the anarchy that anarchists desire ;3
anarchy as anarchists understand it is a society organizing itself by anarchist principles. this expesses itself through things such as mutual aide, free association, absence or minimalization of hierarchies and direct action.
basically people getting together in all areas of their lives, to together fulfill their needs, help each other, make decisions among those affected and resolve conflicts together. it’s ofc not always glamourus, no society is, but we believe that it is a better way of living and organizing and we can start building it here and now by just doing those things
important values of anarchy are equality, freedom, solidarity, consent, and uniqueness. those are also shared (or claimed to be shared) by other political movements and organizations, but i would argue that most put other things first such as upholding the current system, maintaining and extending the rulers power and such.
ofc not all anarchists think alike so at the end of the day this is just one perspective out of many
if u are intrigued now and wanna hear more about anarchism, you could check out the anarchist faq or ask in the comments but pws don’t be mean
i believe that social change is necessarily a gradual project, because we need to build the new systems and learn to act self empowered and build new relations to each other and all of that takes time and room for experimentation.
people can show great initiative during power vacuums or sudden breaks, but if they never experienced anything else, i think they are likely to just reproduce what they already know.
the important thing is that states and private companies can not bring those gradual changes. they can make things easier, encourage things, and open doors, but at the end of the day it’s against their own interest to completely subvert their own power and we need to learn to be indepentent from them and reclaim our power. we have to be the change. we can’t wait for or rely on reforms.
Okay… You’re an anarchist so you believe in the abolition of states, but also gradual reform can be made easier through companies and states? Explain?
Why would the interests of capital ever approve of anything except the accumulation of more capital. Why would bourgeois states ever let anarchists win?
Thanks to you too for the thoughtful response. What’s one specific thing a person can do that would make the most change?
thank you for ur kind words <3
i believe the best way is to form connections to the people around you, your neigbourhood, workplace, place of study,… , get to know each other, help each other find the issues and needs that you share and ways to solve them together. when you build social structures, build them horizontally, where everyone can meet as equals and with power rooting back to the base and being delegated from there, not the other way around. when possible cooperate with other groups to combine your strength and resources.
i often ask myself “how might this be solved in a better society?” and then try to do that
it might be useful to find people who are ideologically aligned with u so u can talk about this stuff, learn new things, and kick things off together